Carl Benjamin tries to claim that he is trying to bring 'comedy back to the UK' after being taken to task for his rape jokes in BBC interview

Controversial UKIP MEP candidate Carl Benjamin has today appeared on the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire Show where he attempted to defend his 'rape jokes' directed at Labour's Jess Phillips.

Benjamin, who became infamous for his YouTube persona the Sargon of Akkad, has come under fire after it emerged that he had told Jess Phillips during a Twitter debate that he 'wouldn't even rape her'.

The MEP candidate, who has been hit with milkshakes and kippers during his campaign tour of south England, was branded a hypocrite during his interview with Derbyshire.

Benjamin acknowledged that there was a direct link between hateful rhetoric and act of violence or protest, but only when they were aimed at him. He was asked:

Why do you think you’ve had kippers and milkshakes thrown over you while campaigning?

He replied:

Because you’re radicalising people by lying about me.

Derbyshire replied:

So there is a link between language and acts of violence?

Benjamin answered back:

There is a link between telling lies about someone in the press - and you don’t seem to have any duty of care about this at all - and the things that they’re trying to do. Because they don't know what I stand for.

He then tried to claim that he was telling jokes, whereas Derbyshire wasn't, which led the presenter to accuse him of hypocrisy. She said:

You sound like a hypocrite. You blame the words on newspapers or the media.

But when you target someone by attaching their name to your rape joke that's ok.

In response to these claims and that he is 'normalising' this type of language, Benjamin that is he attempting to 'normalise comedy' which he believes is 'under attack' in the UK.

Derbyshire had already read several comments that had been posted to Benjamin on social media which appeared to condone the type of language that he was promoting.

The 39-year-old from Swindon claimed that they weren't real and that he wanted to "bring comedy back to this country".

When reading comments from rape victims criticising his 'jokes' Benjamin claimed that they were farcical and that he "empathised with the other side".

Derbyshire's interrogation of Benjamin has won a lot of support on Twitter, with many condemning the UKIP representatives ignorant comments and attitude towards victims of sexual assault.

Jess Phillips has also commented on the interview and replied to trolls who tried to criticise her.

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